Huo Weilou stepped into the yamen, Sun Zhao accompanied him with an umbrella, and asked as he walked, "Your Majesty, he has already been imprisoned, and now is the trial?"
The Embroidered Clothes Envoy arrived on horseback, which was naturally much faster than the carriage, Huo Weilou nodded, "Now for trial."
Sun Zhao ordered Wu Xiang to go first, and when Huo Weilou arrived at the Fuya cell, Han Qi was already kneeling in the side hall on the west side of the cell.
Huo Weilou stepped into the door and was the first to be seated. He came all the way through the rain, his body was covered with moisture, his ink hair was slightly damp, and the hem of his robe and official boots had a string of water stains on the ground. The hall door was wide open, and it was pouring rain There was a soul-stirring sound of smashing on the bluestone floor outside, and the cold wind rushed in, making the drenched Han Qidong turn pale.
Huo Weilou's eyes were colder than the biting cold wind, he stared at Han Qi for a moment, "Now that you have confessed your crime, tell me how you murdered them, my lord, just listen."
After saying this, Huo Weilou looked at Han Qi's left hand, and Han Qi lowered his head, his hands lying on his sides were slightly clenched into fists, "I, the first victim, is a girl from the Xu family in the south of the city. —”
"I can't help writing for Mr. Lu. Usually, I also copy picture books and sell poetry collections. I have sold singing books for restaurants around Weiyang Lake, and I have also sold opera books for painting boats. There is a legendary story book specially for ladies from aristocratic families, and I have also sold it, and after going to it a lot, I know Ling Xiao Poetry Club."
"I have no literary talent, but I can only do some ghostwriting business all day long. If the paintings I draw are signed in my own name, they can be replaced by Lu Wenhe's name. Just because he has an uncle of Guozijian Jijiu, he can sell it dozens of times more than me, I am not convinced in my heart, but I have to do this for my livelihood."
Han Qi swallowed hard, "The noble ladies of the Lingxiao Poetry Society, how can they know any literary talents? The first time I saw them swimming in the lake, I felt jealous. Then one day, my sister Help me to deliver the story book, just in time to see someone falling into the lake, she was watching the fun, but was treated as the maidservant of those ladies, and asked her to deliver the clothes, in order to get a few rewards, she boarded the painting boat, She then saw two of them changing clothes."
Han Qi said so far, his voice became more and more obscure, "I am very good at painting. I can paint mountains, rivers, lakes and seas, fish, insects, birds and animals. I can easily draw them, but I can't draw beauties. I thought, if I can draw a A picture of a peerless beauty will definitely be able to show her talent and fame. I have a beauty in my heart, but there is only one thing missing, a cinnabar mole... "
"I used hundreds of colors to mix, but I still couldn't mix the most vivid cinnabar color. Then I thought, how to make the beauty picture come true? Why not use the real beauty cinnabar mole? My sister mentioned by chance that she had seen that The cinnabar mole on the two girls, so I was moved."
"Miss Xu often goes to buy script books from a library in Xishi, and I happen to have some contacts with that library, so I know her movements. It's a coincidence that that day was the day I sent the script books to the library. But I happened to meet Miss Xu, she looked lost, she was walking on the street without looking at the road, she was almost knocked down by pedestrians, I saw that there was no one around her, so I followed her."
Although Han Qi's voice was difficult, he could speak every word smoothly. Huo Weilou asked him, "How did you kill her?"
"With a rope, I brought a total of five story books that day, and they happened to be tied up with a rope. After I put down the book, the rope was still on me. I strangled her to death with the rope. The knife cut off the cinnabar mole on her arm, together with that piece of flesh, I went home and used wax tanning to make the human skin almost transparent, more delicate than the thinnest cotton paper in the world The gauze silk is even more flexible and translucent, and the cinnabar mole is a hundred times more realistic and beautiful than the blended color."
When it came to the achievement of the goal, Han Qi's words were still calm, and Huo Weilou stared, "Then what about the painting you made?"
They tried all kinds of troubles to kill people and skin them, but they couldn't find a picture of a beauty in Han Qi's house. The only one was painted by Lu Wenhe. Han Qi shook his head, "That picture still failed. The combination of rice paper and human skin is still not proficient enough, so I burned the painting, because it was not finished, so I had to find another target, and this target was almost effortless, because my sister was On the boat, I saw two people with cinnabar moles on their bodies."
"Miss Feng is having an affair with the young master of Li Duwei's family. That day I learned that Mr. Li suddenly stopped going to the Chunfenglou Wenhui, so I guessed that I had an appointment with Miss Feng, so I followed Miss Feng the next day. , Sure enough, I got it."
Huo Weilou's phoenix eyes sank when he heard this, Han Qi's words were very detailed, and he didn't seem to shy away from it, he suddenly asked, "How did you kill Feng Wodan?"
Han Qi coughed lightly at this point, "I, I went prepared, so naturally I strangled her to death. She and Mr. Li broke up on that day, and went to the Town God's Temple alone to ask for a lottery, probably because she wanted to ask for a marriage lottery. But the girl didn’t dare to go, she entered the temple gate and came out again, she saw that it was getting late, so she wanted to take a shortcut to Weiyang Lake, and I found the opportunity at that time.”
Seeing him talking about murder so calmly and indifferently, Huo Weilou frowned, "What about Wei Ling?"
Han Qi stood up straight for a long time, but at the moment he seemed to be weak, and his back was a little hunched, "I saw the portrait of the second miss of the Wei family at Lu Wenhe's. I can probably guess what he did to the Second Miss of the Wei family. When I went to his study that day, I happened to see the Second Miss of the Wei family leaving. When she saw me appear, she was very ashamed and left very quickly. I did something unspeakable. When Lu Wenhe went to the cashier to get the money, I saw the painting covered by Lu Wenhe. The painting was just finished and the ink was still wet. Lu Wenhe painted her extremely beautifully, especially the The bright red cinnabar mole on the chest... "
Huo Weilou asked, "When did this happen?"
Han Qi said: "At the end of the twelfth lunar month last year, before the Chinese New Year."
Huo Weilou went to see Sun Zhao. Today Lu Wenhe was sent to the government prison. Sun Zhao and Wu Xiang interrogated him again, and asked more carefully about Wei Ling. Sun Zhao nodded, "Lu Wenhe By the way, his painting was painted at the end of last year."
"I didn't think about what to do at the time, but after Feng Wodan, I was not satisfied with the second painting, so I felt that I should find a third person. Although the second lady of the Wei family is a noble daughter of the uncle's house, she is an extremely talented person. It's so deceptive, especially after Lu Wenhe didn't want to have a private meeting with her, she even went to Fushun Street in three or two days, and I squatted down to her without much effort."
"I didn't want to do it that day, but she went to the Hanmo Painting and Calligraphy Museum to ask about Lu Wenhe's paintings. When I thought that most of Lu Wenhe's paintings were written by me for him, I became very angry. When she left, I followed her. I took the initiative Talk to her, tell her that I have a painting by Lu Wenhe, he didn't believe it at first, but I know Lu Wenhe's painting too well, and she believed it after I described it a little bit, but I didn't have a rope on me that day, so I had to pinch it dead her."
"After strangling her, I threw her into the Yuxi River..."
After Han Qi said this, he took a breath tired. Huo Weilou stared at him, "What kind of knife did you use for skinning?"
"It's the knife used to cut paper at home."
Huo Weilou looked at Han Qi's hand. Although his hand was hanging by his side, it was still very clean, and there was not even a trace of scar on it. "Where are the two paintings behind you?"
Han Qi said silently: "They all failed and burned, especially after the death of the Second Miss of the Wei family, the government was alarmed and there was a big commotion. Later, there were still some flaws, so I burned them all."
The human skin was burned, and it was really clean. Huo Weilou looked at Han Qi coldly, and suddenly glanced at Ning Xiao. Ning Xiao understood, and stepped forward to twist his arm. Han Qi was startled, and struggled subconsciously. "I've already recruited, but I still have to use torture?"
When he was struggling, he was still being pressed forward by Ning Xiao's arms, and his hands were twisted behind him. He wanted to struggle, but he couldn't struggle properly. Cold sweat overflowed from his forehead. Seeing that he was about to be crushed by Ning Xiao Xiao suppressed his shoulder and dislocated it.
Huo Weilou didn't say a word, but soon, Ning Xiao let him go.
"Master Hou, his arms are unimpeded, and his strength is not as strong as that of martial arts practitioners, but he is not weak."
Han Qiben was loosening his sore shoulder. Hearing this, his body froze. He didn't show any confusion on his face, as if he knew what Ning Xiao meant. He moved his lips and said, "My shoulder occasionally Soreness, especially in the left arm, is an old problem... "
Huo Weilou looked at him with cold phoenix eyes, "What you said just now was told by your sister."
The murderer had a different left arm, but Han Qi did not. Although he explained the cause and effect of the murder of the three people clearly, he could not pretend this. The reason why he felt that the murderer should be a man earlier was because The murderer's method of killing is clean and neat, and ordinary women don't have such fierce strength, but today I learned that Han Qi's younger sister had repelled all the gangsters who bullied her.
When Huo Weilou's words were settled, Han Qi's shoulders trembled. No matter how calm he was, he was just a poor scholar. In front of Huo Weilou, it was not easy to tell the details of the murder of the three people. Huo Weilou's doubts came one after another, and there were always times when he had no time to take care of them.
He pursed his lips, and his voice became even more hoarse, "No... no, my sister is just a miserable person, how could she harm others? Everything is my fault, and now I know that killing people should pay for their lives, so I sent her away , I’ll recruit, I’ll recruit for everything, Lord Marquis and all your lords, please don’t involve innocent people.”
The wind and rain outside the door were not insignificant at all, the rain curtain swayed with the wind, and even the steps at the door were covered with water stains. Hearing the crackling sound, Huo Weilou felt a little uneasy in his heart for some reason, and he suddenly turned towards Ning Xiao Beckoning, when Ning Xiao approached, he ordered: "Go ahead and see if the person who sent Bo Ruoyou back home has returned."
Ning Xiao's complexion changed slightly, and after responding, he hurried to the front hall. As soon as he left, Huo Weilou didn't say a word, and only waited for a while before he came back before his expression changed slightly.
Ning Xiao said: "Master Hou, the people haven't returned yet, it's not long, they must be walking slowly on the road, the rain is too heavy."
Seeing that Huo Weilou's eyebrows were tightened, he said again: "The people sent here are all elites, you don't have to worry."
Huo Weilou suppressed his uneasiness, and looked at Han Qi again, "Although you described the methods of murdering the three people are almost the same, but the traces left on the corpses show that the murderer's left hand is weaker than his right hand, either injured or What kind of disability is there?"
As he said that, Huo Weilou looked at Han Qi's hand, "You have paintings, calligraphy and ink in your home, and you can also mount paintings, but you also have a lot of seal jade carvings in your home. You shouldn't be the one who did these."
Han Qi raised his eyes solemnly, "It's me, it's all me—"
Huo Weilou sneered, "People who use knives all the time have some scars on their hands, but your hands are just a pair of hands holding a pen. Your sister has both strength and knives. It is not difficult for her to kill, let alone It was your sister who went to paint the boat that day, not you, and as for Wei Ling, either you imitated the painting and your sister saw it, or your sister also saw that painting."
Han Qi became a little anxious, with cold sweat on his face. Huo Weilou stared at him for a moment, then suddenly said: "Your sister was born in poverty, is disabled, and her appearance is even more ordinary. Even though you love her very much, buy clothes for her But she is still dissatisfied, she has a sinister and inferiority complex in her heart, so when she sees noble girls from aristocratic families reciting poems and making fun of the moon, she feels envious and resentful, so she crouches in the dark and follows her, and finally finds a chance to kill. No wonder asking Your neighbors can't tell what she looks like, because she is a monster hiding in the dark, how dare people remember her appearance?"
Han Qi didn't know whether it was cold or angry, his body began to tremble, Huo Weilou said again: "You are quite talented and learned, but you have such a sister, and now, for her life, you come to take the blame for her , A person like her is not worthy of being called a human being at all, and you pretended to be the husband of a student, and even indulged her so far, how can you play with literature and ink?"
Han Qiting's eyes were reddish, and his cuffed hands were clenched into fists. He clenched his teeth tightly, and his already pale face was completely drained of blood. Huo Weilou looked at him for a moment, and suddenly said: "She is still here. In the city?"
Han Qi lowered his head and said nothing, Huo Weilou said again: "She killed the man, but you are the one who took the blame. She lives with peace of mind, which shows that she really treats you ruthlessly."
Han Qi gritted his teeth even tighter, "It's not... people, I really killed people, my sister is suffering, and this matter has nothing to do with her."
Huo Weilou's eyes suddenly became cold, "It seems that you must suffer a little bit."
Huo Weilou looked at Ning Xiao, Ning Xiao and two embroidered clothes envoys stepped forward, one left and one right led Han Qi out of the side hall, Han Qi knew what he was about to endure, so he didn't shout or make trouble, but his face changed For pale.
In the past, it would have given Han Qi some time to kill, but today Han Sheng has not shown a trace, either he has fled the capital and gone farther and farther, or he is hiding somewhere and disappears at any time. This is a case of three lives, Huo Weilou It is true that there is no need to give Han Qi patience, it is necessary to quickly find out Han Sheng's whereabouts.
Sun Zhao stepped forward, "Master Hou, he has a very strict mouth, I wonder if torture is of any use?"
Huo Weilou sneered, "It's nothing more than a scholar, his livelihood is hard, and being a ghostwriter is the biggest grievance he suffers on a daily basis, but he has never tasted the feeling of being unable to survive, as long as he is not given the opportunity to commit suicide, he can directly The envoy will always tell the truth." He glanced at the hourglass in the corner, "It's just the difference between a stick of incense and an hour."
These words made Sun Zhao feel a slight chill down his spine. At this time, another muffled thunder rumbled across the sky. The thunderous sound also made Huo Weilou's heart even more gloomy. went
It was raining heavily, Sun Zhao frowned and said, "Today's rain is really frightening." Turning his head and seeing that Huo Weilou's clothes were still wet, he couldn't help asking: "Master Hou, do you want to go to the residence of the lower official in the government office to rest for a while? "
Huo Weilou would never go, so he ordered an embroidered clothes envoy to go down and urge Ning Xiao to hurry up, but this time, Ning Xiao didn't keep him waiting for a long time, and after two sticks of incense, Ning Xiao held a piece of paper in his hand. The blood-stained testimony came up, "Master Hou, halfway through the recruitment, he passed out. He said he was just trying to get out of the city today, and he didn't dare to let Han Sheng go ahead. He tried it, but he was arrested."
Huo Weilou squeezed the black jade wrench on his finger, "That Han Sheng must be near the city gate today!"
Ning Xiao nodded, and said again: "He said that Han Sheng has been haunted these two days, and he only came home late at night, and he doesn't know where Han Sheng went, but he was outside all day long, and Lu Wenhe was brought into the Marquis Mansion for the first time. On that day, he successively bought back the paintings signed by Han Qi earlier from the Hanmo Library, and Han Sheng was very disturbed at that time, and even said that he would leave Beijing."
"But he didn't know that Han Sheng killed people at the time, so he was naturally unwilling. It was only when the embroidered clothes envoy went to the Xu family and the Xu family's affairs broke out that Han Sheng told him the truth. This morning they knew that the wine shop was closed down, so they didn't He really wanted to leave the city. At this moment, he was caught, and he didn't know where Han Sheng would go, but—”
Ning Xiao's voice sank, "However, he said that Han Sheng was very nervous because Han Sheng knew that a powerful female widow had come to Jingzhao Mansion. He said that Han Sheng had personally seen the female widow doing an autopsy by the river."
Huo Weilou sat up straight all of a sudden, "Han Sheng met Bo Ruoyou?"
Ning Xiao nodded, "That's what he said. It should be the first day of Wei Ling's accident. Bo Zuo followed Wu Butou and the others to the riverside for an autopsy. At that time, there were so many people watching, Han Sheng was probably hiding among them." .”
Wu Xiang stood guard at the door and immediately echoed the words.
Huo Weilou suddenly stood up, both Sun Zhao and Ning Xiao were startled, Ning Xiao said: "Master Hou is worried about Bo Zuo? She must have arrived home by this time—"
Of course Huo Weilou knew that Bo Ruoyou had returned home, but somehow he was very worried. The Hanmo Painting and Calligraphy Museum was in Changxingfang. Han Sheng went to the Hanmo Painting and Calligraphy Museum several times recently, and Bo Ruoyou was brought back for the first time in Lu Wenhe After that, Hou Mansion also visited. Especially this afternoon, Bo Ruoyou followed him to the south gate, and at that time, Han Sheng might have been watching them nearby.
Huo Weilou didn't dare to think deeply, he ordered: "Prepare the frame."
Sun Zhao couldn't help but stepped forward, "Where is Lord Hou going?"
"No, prepare the horse—"
As Huo Weilou said, he strode out the door, and Sun Zhao hurriedly trotted to get the umbrella standing by the door, but before he opened the umbrella, Huo Weilou quickly walked into the night rain, Ning Xiao ordered They sent a few embroidered envoys to stay in the yamen, and brought others to follow. It was common for them to walk in the wind and rain at night, but now in the capital, when did Huo Weilou and Wu Zhaohou walk so quickly in the rain?
Seeing this, Sun Zhao also became worried, and hurriedly asked Wu Xiang to follow and have a look.
When he got to the gate of the government office, Huo Weilou was already drenched, the embroiderer was waiting with his horse in front of the gate, Huo Weilou got on his horse, whipped his whip, and rode his horse towards Changxingfang.
…
The wind howled, and the big raindrops crackled on the window sills, adding a sense of turmoil to the already cold night. Bo Ruoyou undressed while thinking about the rouge she had found, and just took off the first one. The outer robe and the candle placed on the table behind her suddenly flickered, her eyes drooped subconsciously, and she caught sight of an inexplicable shadow on the ground in front of her.
"who-"
As soon as she yelled half a sound, a watery chill suddenly approached, and the next moment, a thin and tough rope was wrapped around her neck suddenly, and then suddenly strangled, almost immediately causing Bao Ruoyou's eyes to freeze. black.
The people behind were obviously prepared, strangled her neck and took a few steps back, causing her to fall backwards. The weight of her falling body made it seem like the rope would break her neck.
The severe pain caused Bo Ruoyou to subconsciously raise her neck, and she fell halfway to the ground. When she realized that Lefa had put her to death, her heart was filled with fear, and she tried her best to grab the rope with both hands. She touched a pair of ropes first. With skinny hands, the visitor tightly tightened the rope, and his knees pressed against her back. She was instantly suppressed and had no strength to fight back.
Tears immediately overflowed from the corners of Bo Ruoyou's eyes, this is her boudoir, why would anyone dare to enter her house to do evil? The method is so ruthless, if Cheng Yunzhi and the others are not alarmed, she will really be strangled to death here.
She exerted all her strength to grab the hand behind her, but even if the nails scratched the back of the man's hand, the strength in his hand did not loosen at all. Bo Ruoyou's face was flushed, but she was weak, and here again Under the position of the murderer, she had no room to resist at all. She tried her best to kick the stool not far away to make some noise, but someone who came saw her thoughts and pulled her away by pulling the knot. tables and chairs—
Bo Ruoyou was dragged, and the strength of the pain was half lost at the moment, and the suffocating despair made the consciousness slowly withdraw, except for the subconscious movement of the hands and feet, there was no other way to save himself, but at this moment, the rope around the neck Suddenly she loosened slightly, a cold hand caressed her left back shoulder, and pulled down the loose inner robe she was struggling with.
The momentary looseness gave Bo Ruoyou a chance to survive. She panted heavily, and her thoughts turned in a dull pain. hand on the left shoulder.
Eyes full of tears widened suddenly, she knew the identity of the visitor!
But before she could cry out in surprise, the rope around her neck was suddenly tightened again, and at the same time, she heard a hoarse voice that looked like a man and a woman.
"What a windfall."
Under the bright candles, on Bo Ruoyou's white porcelain-like left shoulder, there is a bright cinnabar mole, which is as charming and seductive as a red plum in snow. Of course, Bo Ruoyou knows what he is talking about. How bloody and fleshy the injured part was, and the bone-piercing chill climbed up her back like a snake...
Tears unconsciously fell from the corners of her eyes, and the strength in her body was about to disappear. Her struggling legs and feet were gradually unable to move, and the hands that were struggling to reach the back of her head also fell powerlessly. When the last trace of clarity disappeared, Bo Ruoyou was exhausted from the bottom of her heart. He called out a name vigorously.
Huo Weilou...
help me…